Deciding what to wear...21 August 2007
17 August 2007
Today we had a mission reunion barbecue. Nobuyuki, an investigator I taught about 3 years ago, was visiting in Utah, so he came too. He just got baptized in May this year. It was so great to see him. It was also a blast to see President Bullock and some other mission friends. Coincidentally, Brother Sato from the Suginami ward was visiting. I could only vaguely remember him, but it was really fun getting to know him again. Apparently, he was an economics student at BYU some twenty years ago. We had a lot of experiences to share, and it was really fun. He gave me a lot of encouragement to do well in school and become a prominent member of society. I guess the church in Japan has been sponsoring seminars which feature some of very successful LDS members to improve their public image (like , the president of BYU-Idaho). He wanted me to become one of those people, so I could help the church in Japan. Impossible. I told him I'll do my best to help perhaps in a very small way.
Nobuyuki, Me, Cynthia
Beh, Dickman, Nobuyuki, Me, PresidentCynthia, Mabey
Brother Sato, MeToday we finally moved out of our place. Connor went off to medical school, Nate moved in with Sam and everyone, and Scott and I are staying with Emily's grandma for the next couple of weeks. We took some final group pictures.
Nate, Connor, Mark, Me
Me, Mark
Connor, Me, Nate, Scott14 August 2007
Scott and I decided to climb Timp with some of his friends. (Actually they were just a random group of people he had not yet met, but they were friends of a friend or something.) We drove out there at like 1:30 AM, but by the time we had everyone together and started the hike it was already 3 AM. It started to get a little chilly as we got closer to the top, but then it started to warm up again with the sunrise. (I tried to get photos of the beautiful sunrise coming over the mountains, but the sunset mode on my camera needed a camera stand. I ordered one online, so my photos should be a better in the future.)
Climbing Mt. Timpanogos [Photos 1]
Climbing Mt. Timpanogos [Photos 1]
06 August 2007
My friend was concerned about whether he had gone too far in trying to succeed in his educational goals that he had lost some of his individuality and sensitivity.
This entry is a backhanded approach to improve my readership by one by blogging instead of emailing my response:
Hmm... I think this is something we all go through to some extent as we try to achieve our goals. I remember a classic rock group that sung about how getting educated and becoming institutionalized took away their passion for life. (I'll let you know when I remember what group it was.) I feel like that sometimes. I suppose in my attempts to be more responsible and better-rounded, I've had to give up some aspects of my own personality. I think there are times, however, that giving up our own personalized approach to things is counter-prodcutive. For example, in A Beautiful Mind (a biography I highly recommend), Slyvia Nasar explains how fortunate John Nash was to attend a university like Harvard which had a flexible and adaptive way of bringing out the best in their students. For John Nash, being forced to conform to a stiff regimen may have stifled his creativity and discouraged him. I expect, however, that there must be a balance. On the other side of the coin, in John Nash's case, the structure which did exist kept Nash focused and motivated, continuing to work on his ideas. Considerate advisers helped him put his energy into his better ideas. For me, the regimen of BYU has helped me discipline myself, focus my energy, and stay productive. But there have been times where I found myself questioning the structure, like when I am memorizing things which really don't need to be kept in memory--but doing it only for the sake of succeeding on an exam.
I try to keep a balance between doing the things I really enjoy now and the things I feel I should do to prepare for an enjoyable future. Sometimes I find a way to effectively get things done, in a way which I really enjoy--but often I am left to find a balance between effectiveness and enjoyableness. That is to say, I sometimes do tasks in less effective but more enjoyable ways, like listen to music while doing my web design, even if it is a little distracting. I tend to mix my enjoyment and productivity together and it works better for me than switching modes from one extreme to the other all the time. I know many people compartmentalize work and play to a greater extent, which seems to work for them.
I think finding our own approach to accomplishing the daily tasks can be one way to hold onto our individuality without giving up on our goals. Also, from time to time, we should reevaluate the goals we are trying to achieve, and question whether they are worth what we are giving up to achieve them. I think this is a good test for our goals:
"Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it."
–Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Once we know what we want, I guess we just have to make sure we are on a path that will lead us there.
This entry is a backhanded approach to improve my readership by one by blogging instead of emailing my response:
Hmm... I think this is something we all go through to some extent as we try to achieve our goals. I remember a classic rock group that sung about how getting educated and becoming institutionalized took away their passion for life. (I'll let you know when I remember what group it was.) I feel like that sometimes. I suppose in my attempts to be more responsible and better-rounded, I've had to give up some aspects of my own personality. I think there are times, however, that giving up our own personalized approach to things is counter-prodcutive. For example, in A Beautiful Mind (a biography I highly recommend), Slyvia Nasar explains how fortunate John Nash was to attend a university like Harvard which had a flexible and adaptive way of bringing out the best in their students. For John Nash, being forced to conform to a stiff regimen may have stifled his creativity and discouraged him. I expect, however, that there must be a balance. On the other side of the coin, in John Nash's case, the structure which did exist kept Nash focused and motivated, continuing to work on his ideas. Considerate advisers helped him put his energy into his better ideas. For me, the regimen of BYU has helped me discipline myself, focus my energy, and stay productive. But there have been times where I found myself questioning the structure, like when I am memorizing things which really don't need to be kept in memory--but doing it only for the sake of succeeding on an exam.
I try to keep a balance between doing the things I really enjoy now and the things I feel I should do to prepare for an enjoyable future. Sometimes I find a way to effectively get things done, in a way which I really enjoy--but often I am left to find a balance between effectiveness and enjoyableness. That is to say, I sometimes do tasks in less effective but more enjoyable ways, like listen to music while doing my web design, even if it is a little distracting. I tend to mix my enjoyment and productivity together and it works better for me than switching modes from one extreme to the other all the time. I know many people compartmentalize work and play to a greater extent, which seems to work for them.
I think finding our own approach to accomplishing the daily tasks can be one way to hold onto our individuality without giving up on our goals. Also, from time to time, we should reevaluate the goals we are trying to achieve, and question whether they are worth what we are giving up to achieve them. I think this is a good test for our goals:
"Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it."
–Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Once we know what we want, I guess we just have to make sure we are on a path that will lead us there.
03 August 2007
I found an interesting new band while listening to MPR's The Current during my trip to Minnesota over the past couple of weeks.
The band is called Beirut. They have a really nice blend of many instruments including acoustic (guitar), brass (trumpet) and a surprisingly well integrated accordion. Of their recent production, Lon Gisland EP, my favorite track is "Elephant Gun."
The accordion reminds me of CYHSY, but the tempo and more mellow tone gives them a feel akin to Midlake.
Ironically CYHSY also features an accordion-based track titled "Upon Encountering the Crippled Elephant" on their most recent CD. Is there some obvious similarity between elephants and accordions that I'm missing?
The band is called Beirut. They have a really nice blend of many instruments including acoustic (guitar), brass (trumpet) and a surprisingly well integrated accordion. Of their recent production, Lon Gisland EP, my favorite track is "Elephant Gun."
The accordion reminds me of CYHSY, but the tempo and more mellow tone gives them a feel akin to Midlake.
Ironically CYHSY also features an accordion-based track titled "Upon Encountering the Crippled Elephant" on their most recent CD. Is there some obvious similarity between elephants and accordions that I'm missing?
01 August 2007
Update:
A better program exists which works with Windows Vista. It also pulls up an on-screen display (with AlbumArt) which helps you find the song you are looking for.
iTunesControl
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Controlling iTunes with global hotkeys:
This is my second remotelyuseful post. It is mostly for Michael who wanted iTunes support to be able to skip to the next song with the extra keys on his keyboard and Scott who wanted his remote to work with iTunes. (No pun intended with the 'remotelyuseful' tag and that this is a post about iTunes remoting.)
All you have to do is install and run a program I found called iTunesKeys, then assign each iTunes function to a hotkey by pressing the key when prompted to do so.
Screenshot (provided by mattberube.com):
It works pretty well, though it has a little slower response than the global hotkeys for WinAmp (This is not surprising when considering how slow to respond iTunes is at virtually everything.)
My setup is as follows:
Play/Stop: Special play/stop key on my keyboard.
Stop: Special stop key
Next: Special next key
Previous: Special previous key
Vol up: Ctrl+Shift+Up
Vol down: Ctrl+Shift+Down
Rate 0 star: WindowsKey+`
Rate 1 star: WindowsKey+1
...
Rate 5 stars: WindowsKey+5
Toggle Shuffle: WindowsKey+S
Show song info: WindowsKey+A
A better program exists which works with Windows Vista. It also pulls up an on-screen display (with AlbumArt) which helps you find the song you are looking for.
iTunesControl
Controlling iTunes with global hotkeys:
This is my second remotelyuseful post. It is mostly for Michael who wanted iTunes support to be able to skip to the next song with the extra keys on his keyboard and Scott who wanted his remote to work with iTunes. (No pun intended with the 'remotelyuseful' tag and that this is a post about iTunes remoting.)
All you have to do is install and run a program I found called iTunesKeys, then assign each iTunes function to a hotkey by pressing the key when prompted to do so.
Screenshot (provided by mattberube.com):It works pretty well, though it has a little slower response than the global hotkeys for WinAmp (This is not surprising when considering how slow to respond iTunes is at virtually everything.)
My setup is as follows:
Play/Stop: Special play/stop key on my keyboard.
Stop: Special stop key
Next: Special next key
Previous: Special previous key
Vol up: Ctrl+Shift+Up
Vol down: Ctrl+Shift+Down
Rate 0 star: WindowsKey+`
Rate 1 star: WindowsKey+1
...
Rate 5 stars: WindowsKey+5
Toggle Shuffle: WindowsKey+S
Show song info: WindowsKey+A
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